Sister Bay, Wis. (July 8, 2022) – Midsummer’s Music continues its extensive 32nd concert season with a program featuring works by composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his contemporary Paul Wrantizky, and Bernard Molique. Entitled Scintillating Summer Serenades, the thrilling program consists of a quartet, a quintet, and a sextet that – as serenades – are stylistically midway between a suite and a symphony. Featured musicians are flautist Heather Yarmel, oboist Lindsay Flowers, violinist David Perry, violists Allyson Fleck and Mary Deck, and cellist James Waldo.
Born in Moravia in 1756, Paul Wranitzky was the conductor of Vienna’s Royal Theater Orchestra and was highly valued for his skill in this regard by Mozart and Beethoven. His string quartet output is favorably compared to Mozart, but, interestingly, Wranitzky produced a greater volume of masterworks. The Sextet in E-flat Major – with flute, oboe, violin, two violas, and cello – is the third in a group of six that were published together in 1790. They appear to be arrangements of some of Wranitzky’s symphonies, a practice that was common at the time and allowed for wider performance opportunities.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also born in 1756, composed his Quartet in F Major, K. 386b, for oboe, violin, viola, and cello in the 18th century tradition of writing quartets for a single wind instrument and strings, which seems to have sprung from the desire on the part of amateur musicians to satiate their own musical gratification. One of the finest examples of this genre, it is unlikely that this particular work was intended for an amateur oboist, due to the rather considerable demands on the oboe part, both technically and musically, including high notes that are not usually expected of oboists even today.
This year marks the 220th birthday of German composer Bernhard Molique, a violin prodigy who studied briefly with one of the greatest violinists of his day, Ludwig Spohr. At the age of 18, Molique became the concertmaster in Munich and was appointed to the same position six years later in Stuttgart. His Quintet in D Major, Op. 35, for flute, violin, two violas, and cello was commissioned in 1848 by Englishman Walter Broadwood, a flautist who was also Beethoven’s preferred piano maker. Throughout the piece’s four movements Molique cleverly alternates between major and minor keys in a very intriguing and effective way.
The Scintillating Summer Serenades program is performed four times: July 7 at 7:00pm at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; July 8 at 7:00pm at First Baptist Church in Sister Bay; July 9 at 7:00pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay; and July 10 at 5:00pm at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor.
The sixth program of the season, Trio Magic, showcases Swedish Female composer Laura Netzel’s Serenade, Op. 50 (1895), Spanish composer Joaquin Turina’s Circulo, Op. 91, and German composer Franz Schubert’s Trio in E-flat, Op. 100, D. 929. Concerts are at 7:00pm, July 15, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay; 7:00pm, July 16, at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay; 3:00pm, July 17, as a Salon Concert at the Trenchard residence in Sister Bay; and 7:00pm, July 21, at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor. Featured musicians in this piano trio program are violinist David Perry, cellist James Waldo, and pianist Jeannie Yu.
Heather Yarmel will lead an educational Coffee Talk entitled “Taoism and Alexander Technique in Music: A beginner’s journey to finding greater freedom in music-making” on July 23 at 11:00am at the Margaret Lockwood Gallery in Sturgeon Bay. Coffee Talk programs are free, informal presentations on music topics by ensemble members. staff, and friends.
A complete 2022 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com. Programs are subject to change.
Tickets are $35 for adults, $15 for students, and children 12 and under are free. Premium prices apply for salon/home concerts, dinner concerts and other special events. Flex-packs of six tickets for the price of five tickets are also available. Tickets can be ordered at www.midsummersmusic.com or by phone at 920-854-7088.
Midsummer’s Music was co-founded in 1990 by Jim and Jean Berkenstock, long-time Door County summer residents and principal orchestral players with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What began as two concerts among friends has become one of the Midwest’s most anticipated chamber music series, bringing thousands of chamber music enthusiasts from around the globe to the magical Door County Peninsula.
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